Police Kill German Axe Attacker

The police in Germany have shot dead a teenage Afghan refugee who armed with an axe and knife, injured four people on a train in Wurzburg.Three people in a group from Hong Kong were seriously hurt and one slightly injured in the attack. Another 14 people were treated for shock.

Bavarian Interior Minister, Joachim Herrmann said the attacker was killed as he tried to flee the scene, while the motive for the attack is not yet clear.

Herrmann said it was too early to speculate about the motives of the attacker, who, he said was believed to be living in a home for unaccompanied minors in Ochsenfurt, near the city of Wuerzburg.

“The attacker appears to have been a 17-year-old Afghan, who has been living in Ochsenfurt for some time.

“He suddenly attacked passengers with a knife and an axe, critically injuring several. Some of them may now be fighting for their lives,” Herrmann said.

It is likely to deepen worries about so-called “lone wolf” attacks in Europe and could put political pressure on German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who welcomed hundreds of thousands of migrants to Germany over the past year.

German media, citing a spokesman for the Bavarian interior ministry, reported that the man had shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) during the attack, but neither Herrmann nor Hench said they could confirm that.

“There are witnesses that suggest there may be an Islamic background to this but that is far from clear at this point,” Herrmann said.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying has condemned the attack and he says immigration officials from the city would accompany family members to Germany.